Following alert encountered on ESXi host when trying to connect host to vcenter : "License not available to perform the operation. The VMware vSphere 7 Essentials license for "Host" xx does not include "vSphere vMotion". Upgrade the license."

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Host is in disconnected state. When trying to connect the host back to the vCenter following alert is encountered:

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

vMotion service is not supported on Essentials for Retail and Branch office license.

Resolution

• If you have applied vSphere Essentials License for Retail and Branch office and vMotion service is enabled on any of the vmkernel adapters, kindly disable the same before applying any changes to the host.
  
  
• If the host has disconnected from vCenter and you are unable to connect it back, kindly delete the vmkernel adapter configured with vmotion service from cli.
  
  esxcli network ip interface remove --interface-name=vmkX # remove vmkernel adapter
  esxcli network ip interface add --interface-name=vmkX --portgroup-name=portgroup # create vmkernel adapter

Additional Information

Refer following document for vSphere Licensing options available and the features supported on them respectively: vCenter Server Licensing Options

Refer following article for cli commands to delete a vmkernel adapter from standard or distributed switch: Configuring Standard vSwitch (vSS) or virtual Distributed Switch (vDS) from the command line in ESXi